Nightmare
by mskelseylove
Summary: Even 5 years after it happened, Kurt has nightmares. Blaine is there to comfort him. Klaine - established relationship. Chapters 2 and 3, from Blaine and Burt's perspective now up, plus happy ending chapter 4 :D
1. Chapter 1

A/N: warning - rated mature for rape, assault and sexual content. I don't own Glee.

"Hey Blaine, I'm going to go outside a few minutes ahead of you and start up the car. It's so cold out!" I said, wrapping my scarf around my neck and pulling on my boots. We were supposed to meet Mercedes and Anthony at Breadstix in half an hour and I wanted to make sure that we were on time. I was so excited that they had actually hit it off since I was the one who had suggested that they get together. I heard Blaine call from upstairs acknowledging that he heard me. I left the house immersed in thoughts about how lucky I was to have found someone so special.

Since we were planning on taking my car, which was parked in the garage, I walked down the sidewalk that connected the house to the garage quite slowly since I was concerned about falling on ice. It was snowing pretty hard and was a little windy and I pulled my scarf father up to cover up my mouth and cheeks. I was glad to escape in the bit of warmth that came with reaching the enclosed building and shut the door behind me so that no more wind would come in. Making my way to the car, I reached my hand into my pocket and swore under my breath. I had left my keys inside on the kitchen counter.

Turning around to return to the house, I felt a rough hand on my shoulder and was instantly twirled around so that I was facing a tall, broad boy in a letterman's jacket. I was startled into silence and took in a sharp breath. He must have thought that I was going to shout out, because he roughly placed his hand over my mouth. He leaned in closer to me and I could smell alcohol pouring out of his breath and off of his clothes.

He leaned in close to my face. I tried to call out for help, but my voice was muffled to less than a whisper with his large hands and thick gloves covering most of my face. "Sup, homo?" he asked quietly and mockingly. His whisper rolled off of his tongue and floated around my face and made me shiver. Not in the beautiful way that happened sometimes when Blaine would whisper in my ear, but in a way that made me fill up with fear.

"Don't say anything. I've just come here to talk to you." The tone of his voice was low and hoarse and I couldn't trust that what he said was true, but I had no way of trying to scream like I wanted to with him still forcefully holding onto my face. "You're the only other person that I know who is like me. The only one who understands. The only one who knows. The only one..." He was mumbling repetitively and I found myself hoping that he had drunk enough that he would just pass out or that enough time had passed that Blaine would be coming out to the car.

He shoved me so that my back slid down against the side of the car and I realized that no one would be able to see us from outside while the door was shut. I hadn't noticed that I had squeezed my eyes shut until he shouted at me, saying, "open your eyes when I'm talking to you! I want you to look at me!" I forced myself to look into his eyes, thinking that maybe if I just did what he asked of me he would leave me alone.

At the sudden eye contact, he looked startled and loosened his grip on my mouth and I let out a high scream, not actually forming any words but reveling in the momentary lack of pressure on my face. Before I could yell out for help, his lips were on mine. More forcefully than when we were at school. That incident had seemed out of desperation, but this seemed much more passionate - full of desire.

I wiggled my hips, trying to push him off of me and started hitting any part of him that I could reach. Numb with alcohol, coldness and yearning, he didn't let up at these blows, but only deepened the kiss, prying my lips open and forcing his tongue into my mouth and along my teeth. When he took a moment to take a breath, I shouted as loudly as I could manage,"help! Someone please help me!"

"I told you to be quiet!" he said, the look in his eyes shifting from desire to anger. He punched me hard in the stomach and I keeled over in pain. He stood up and looked down at me laying on the concrete floor. He swung his foot back and kicked me once, twice, three times in the chest and stomach. The lack of contact on my face made it possible for me to make noise, but the punches to my chest had made it impossible for me to say anything other than a whispered"please, please, please" between my whimpers of pain. I felt one last hard kick to my head and warm blood trickling down my neck from my ears and nose. Everything went blank.

Some time later, I opened my eyes to see him walk over to the garage door and lock it. He had taken off his jacket and I could see the obvious erection pressing through his pants. Wanting to escape, but not having enough energy to even lift a finger, I closed my eyes, at least wanting to not see what I was sure would come next. As he walked towards me, the dizziness returned and everything went blank again.

"Kurt, babe, you didn't have to wait out here for it warm up. You're right, it is freezing out here." Blaine said from right outside the garage door. My cheek was pressed into the cold concrete of the garage floor and I tried to open my eyes at the sound of his voice. I could feel the swelling around my eyes and could only open them enough to see a blurry image of part of the door.

Karofsky had also heard Blaine. My entire body had been so numb and in pain that I hadn't noticed that he was still there until he had stopped what he was doing. I somehow found the energy to turn my head and look around at him and I watched as he pulled his penis out of me. His face was red and sweaty and I knew that he must have been thrusting quickly before he heard Blaine's interruption.

At the sight and realization of what he had been doing, I got sick to my stomach and threw up all over - down the from of my shirt and onto the floor.

"Babe, are you okay in there? I think that this door must be stuck." Blaine said, now sounding worried. He had obviously heard me get sick. I heard him rattling the door handle trying to pull it open and I tried to cry out to him so that he would know that I wasn't okay, but I once again had exhausted what little energy I had found. Obviously concerned by my lack of response, Blaine started slamming on the door and shouting my name repeatedly. I saw Karofsky walking around gathering his pants and jacket and hurriedly putting them on, obviously trying to get out of there before Blaine realized that I wasn't alone.

Blaine had forced the door open with his shoulder and took one look at me on the floor and Karofsky zipping up his pants and shouted a noise that was the scariest thing I had ever heard. He lunged at Karofsky, managing to tackle him since he was so drunk and scared. Blaine gave him one good punch to the face, but that only seemed to clear his mind. Even in his drunken state he was much stronger than Blaine and he easily flipped him over so that he was on top of him and began punching him repeatedly in the stomach.

"Stop," I tried to shout and get his attention. "Please leave him alone. Don't hurt him! Anything but him.

"Babe, wake up."

"Stop, don't hurt him. Hurt me instead."

"Kurt, babe, wake up. Nobody is hurting anyone. It's me, here with you. It's Blaine. It's just me and you. Nobody is going to hurt you or anyone else."

"Stop! Stop! Please!"

I felt myself being pulled back to reality and opened my eyes to see a distraught Blaine kneeling over me. I could feel a wet towel on my forehead and looked over to see bowl of ice on our bedside table.

Trying to shake myself out of what I had finally realized was a nightmare - a memory - I looked up at Blaine and took a deep breathe and tried to calm myself down.

Even years the attack I still sometimes had dreams about it. Even though I had originally been upset with the locker room kiss, looking back at it, I would be glad if that would have been where it had stopped.

After living at Dalton for a few months, Blaine and I had become a couple and I had finally become comfortable with who I was. The bullying policy and security that came with attending Dalton made me feel more safe than I had ever been before. But one night, after drinking at some football party, Karofsky cornered me, raped me and beat us both up enough to land Blaine and me in a hospital for a week and two weeks respectively.

If Blaine hadn't come outside and found me at the right minute, I would have died that night. I lost an extremely dangerous amount of blood. At least that's what the doctors had told me. And if my dad hadn't come out to the garage and found Karofsky on top of Blaine, I'm sure that he would have died out there too. After I passed out that final time after seeing Karofsky on top of Blaine, I didn't remember anything until a week later. I could tell that it was the middle of the night by the total darkness that consumed the hospital room and the lack of commotion in the hallway.

Blaine's head was laying on my chest and his hand was in mine. I didn't hear anything but the soft melody that was falling off of his lips and seemed to ricochet around the room through the silence. I squeezed his hand to let him know that I was awake and whispered his name as loudly as I could. We both spent the majority of that night crying and holding each other, trying obtain some of the comfort that we had been lacking, while I was sleeping and dreaming and while he was attempting to be patient while waiting for me to wake up.

The only good thing that came from that incident was that Karofsky was now in prison for DUI, assault, rape and a few other charges that the district attorney was able to come up with and was sentenced to over twenty years in state prison. I knew that one day would come when I would have to worry about him again, but through all of the trials and sentences I had gotten a restraining order against him so that I could at least have a little piece of mind.

But it's been five years since that happened. And most of the time, I am happy. Blaine and I are currently in our third year of NYU (he took a year off after high school and worked as a waiter so that we could go to school together). We share a little apartment in Manhattan that Blaine's parents pay for and we are very much in love. But once in a while I'll have a nightmare that makes me return to that night and temporarily steals my happiness and sense of security. At least until Blaine can pull me out of it.

This night was one of the worst that had happened in years. Blaine and I had shared a really romantic night at one of our favorite Italian restaurants to celebrate our anniversary. I hate that our most intimate nights were sometimes interrupted by the monster that haunted my dreams.

"Are you back with me, Kurt?" Blaine asked me gently, wiping the washcloth across my forehead and placing it on the table. "Yeah, I'm here," I said quietly, trying to keep my eyes open because every time I closed my eyes I had a flash of the nightmare that I had just relived.

"Karofsky again?" he inquired, obviously wanting to make sure that I was really okay. "Yes," I replied, "I think that that is the worst that it has ever been, it's like I was reliving it instead of remembering it. It got all the way to the end when he was hurting you. I wanted him to stop so badly and neither of you could hear me and I thought that we were never going to be together again." I was starting to get worked up and I felt a few hot tears fall down my face.

He put his hand over my mouth to quiet me, but his touch was so gentle and caring that it made me feel nearly instantly better and reassured. "Don't worry about me, baby. I'm here with you now and there's nobody here to hurt you. I'll never hurt you," he said, placing soft kisses along my face and neck.

I pushed the memories out of my mind and focused on the feeling of Blaine's soft lips on my face and neck. "You love me, right?" I said, pushing him back and looking deep into his hazel eyes. He looked almost hurt at the question. "Of course, Kurt. You know that you are the one person in this world that I would do anything for. I hate that you have these nightmares, but just know that I'll always be here for you when you wake up."

I let my eyes close again and sighed in relief, but images of the nightmare returned as soon as the darkness came. I opened them abruptly and looked back into Blaine's beautiful eyes. "Every time I close my eyes, images of that night come back to the surface. I need to shift my attention and you are the one who is best at doing that for me. Will you make love to me? I need you to show me how much you love me so that I can push out the pictures that are currently filling up my mind," I whispered, running my hands through his curls and sitting up slightly so that I was right close next to his face.

"Baby, you know that I will do anything to make you feel better. Just try to keep your eyes on me and focus all of your thoughts on what I'm doing to you," he said, pushing me back so that I was laying down again and he flashed me a gorgeous smile before continuing the soft kisses to my face and neck that he had started a few minutes before. I felt the tension start to leave my body and I savored the feeling of his touch.

It was moments like these where I swear Blaine's fingers are made of something smoother and softer than any other man's alive. My eyes followed his hands as they passed softly, teasingly over my arms and neck and down my bare chest. His lips finally reached mine, but the kisses were so tender that it felt like lingering breath instead of actual contact. I accepted a moment of these light kisses, but found myself wanting more, and initiated more passionate contact by deepening the kiss and grinding my hips up towards his. He smiled at me again and waggled his eyebrows in what is his childish, yet classic way of telling me that he was turned on by whatever I was doing.

I felt my face flush with anticipation and longing and allowed my hands to explore his body.

I hesitated momentarily at his briefs, which was the only item of clothing between us, but pressed on when I sensed his hard erection through the thin fabric. We had made love countless times before and were starting to go on autopilot, automatically lingering on certain parts of each other's body that we knew would have particular results. He rubbed his hands along my hips and I bit delicately at his ear lobes. He flicked his tongue over my nipples and I took my nails and brushed them lightly along his lower back.

Up until this point, we had avoided touching each other's most sensitive parts, but our tantalizing touches had made us ready to press on. There were some times when we made love that were so full of passion and desire that the pace was fast and almost rushed because we couldn't pleasure each other fast enough. But tonight, between the light kisses and consistent piercing eye contact, things were slow and beautiful, every move deliberately made.

Blaine was constantly whispering words of comfort and love and like all of his other moves, when he slid himself into me, it was gentle and loving. Having him inside me, filling me up, was when I truly felt better. There was something so magical about being so close to this person that I loved, so connected, that we were almost occupying the same space. He rocked slowly, going in and out of me, alternating between kissing my neck, my lips and looking directly into my eyes. Although he told me many times, there was no need for him to tell me that he loved me then, because in that moment, I knew to be true.

After a long while, or perhaps only a few minutes, we came together, breathing harder than normal, clutching onto one another, each other's names on our lips. After a few moments of comfortable silence as we came down from our high, he pulled out of me and laid onto his back, pulling me so that my head rested on top of his chest. "Kurt, I hope that you can really understand how much I love you," he said, pushing my hair out of my eyes. "I'll be here for you until the day I die."

"Thank you, Blaine," I whispered, giving him a final kiss before snuggling into his side. Knowing that he was there for me, I fell back into a deep, peaceful, dreamless sleep.

A/N: While I love the idea of really hot passionate sex for Klaine, I really think that with a a nightmare and memories like his, Kurt would want to be close to Blaine, physically and emotionally, in a loving, gentle way. But I'm not sure if I portrayed this very well. If you have any thoughts on it I'd love to hear them! :)

Also, while writing this I wrote up two little things that go with it - from the Karofsky/garage incident - one from Blaine's perspective and one from Burt's. Let me know if you're interested in reading them and I'll add them on as additional chapters or whatever.

Hope you enjoyed - Kelsey


	2. Blaine

Blaine

A/N: This was just a little thing that I wrote when writing the main oneshot. Couple people said that they'd like to read it, so here it is. Still don't own Glee. I'd be more than happy to take Darren Criss off of their hands, though.

Kurt had fallen back asleep, his head resting on my chest and his arm wrapped tightly around my side. Nights like this were hard for me too, but I knew that I had to be strong for Kurt, first, and then worry about myself if needed.

I wiped a stray tear off of his face and kissed his forehead lightly. His breaths were slow and even and I felt comfortable that he had gotten out of the nightmare, for tonight at least. I rarely dreamt about it, but nights like this, after Kurt had woken me up with his shouts and frantic movements, I couldn't help but relive the horrible occurrence.

We were going to go out to dinner with Mercedes and some boy that Kurt had drummed up for her. I was grateful that Kurt had Mercedes for a friend. She was strong willed and opinionated, but I was sure that she would never let something happen to him on her watch.

I was upstairs, getting ready. The outfits that Kurt put together looked so effortlessly good on him that I was trying hard to put something together that would look half as good. I was staying at the Hummel's for a few days during winter break from school, so I had a few things to chose from. Kurt called upstairs to me, saying something about starting the car because it was cold out. I smiled to myself and told him that I would be down soon. I hadn't decided what it was, exactly, about Kurt that was so special, but I knew I wanted to spend time - years hopefully - finding out what it was.

I contemplated between two shirts, but decided to pair my dark skinny jeans with a light blue button down because Kurt had said before that he liked how it look on me with my black tie. I put the tie on, humming under my breath while I finished up.

I grabbed my jacket and wandered downstairs, trying to remember if I was forgetting anything. I was pulling on my shoes and stood up and wasn't surprised to see Burt and Carol curled up on the couch watching a movie. I was impressed how well we had all gotten along and was so happy that they were such a strong family support system for Kurt. I waived goodbye to them, telling them that we would be back in a couple of hours, and left the house.

I walked briskly toward the garage and slipped a little on the icy sidewalk. I called out to Kurt as I was nearing the door, "Kurt, babe, you didn't have to wait out here for it warm up. You're right, it is freezing out here." I got to the door and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. I heard a little shuffling around inside and wondered what he could be doing. Out of no where, I heard him throw up. He must be sick, I thought suddenly, and tried pulling on the door again. "Babe, are you okay in there? I think that this door must be stuck," I said worriedly, wondering why the damn door wouldn't move.

I waited for a response but there was nothing. Only silence. I was starting to get really nervous and was calling out his name and slamming my shoulder against the door, wishing that he would answer. Slam, slam, slam. I was hurting my shoulder, but didn't care; I was becoming desperate. One last push against the door after getting a bit of a running start, and the door flew open.

Thinking that I would find him on the floor, sick and perhaps fainted, I let a second pass while my eyes adjusted to the low lit room. Then I saw him - laying face down on the floor, jacket off, pants and boxers bunched around his ankles. I felt myself filling up with fear and rage and then saw Karofsky a ways away from him, hastily trying to do up his own pants. With sudden realization of what had occurred, I felt my outrage explode and partially escape through my lips in an unrecognizable shout.

In that moment, I was without a doubt feeling more anger than I had ever previously experienced. I lunged forward at him, all levelheadedness forgotten. When he noticed that I was headed toward him, he froze with shock and I easily pushed him to the ground. I threw one good punch, right to his nose, but that only seemed to clear his mind. Through his anger and brute strength, he easily flipped us over so that he was the one who was on top of me.

I could hear Kurt whimpering and struggling to sit up, only a few feet away from us, and I wanted to go to him, to tell him that I loved him and that everything would be okay, but with the monster on top of me, I was using all of my available energy to try and get him off. Karofsky was hitting me repeatedly anywhere he could reach and after one strong blow to the head, I felt myself getting dizzy. I was worried that we were both going to die and all that I kept wishing for was the opportunity to tell Kurt how much I loved him - when everything went dark.

Later, I woke up when I was being lifted and buckled onto a stretcher by two paramedics whose eyes were full of concern. I couldn't speak very loudly but I was saying Kurt's name over and over, praying that he would answer me. But I didn't hear him. I heard Carol crying, Burt yelling at the ambulance driver to hurry, paramedics talking in hushed tones and a man calling the incident into the hospital so that they would be ready, but no Kurt. My nervousness was growing and I yelled out for him and started demanding the people who were nearest to me to bring me to him. I heard one of the men whisper something to the other while lifting me onto the gurney and felt a pinch in my side and I fell quickly into worried sleep.

Later that night, sometime after midnight, I woke up and had to think for a few minutes about why my head and back hurt and why I was in a bed that was neither my own, nor Kurt's. I glanced hazily about the room, and finally noticed a woman sitting hunched over with her face in her hands. He looked at her curiously and with her hair all disheveled I didn't immediately realize that it was Carol. I heard the steady hum of the medical equipment on the other side of the room, and in one harsh breath the memory of why I was there and what had happened came crashing down and landed on me like someone had placed a boulder on my chest. The new worry for Kurt and hatred for Karofsky hurt more badly than any of my physical ailments. I tried to call out for Carol, to let her know that I was awake and to try to get information about Kurt.

My voice was hoarse and it took a few attempts, but at last, she lifted her had and though her eyes remained full of worry, her mouth showed a relieved smile. "Blaine, how are you feeling sweetie?" she asked, walking over to the bed and taking one of my hands in her own."

"I'm fine," I lied easily, knowing that I wasn't yet and wouldn't be until I found out how Kurt was doing. "How's Kurt?"

She took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh before answering. "He's stable. You're in a regular room but he's over in the ICU. His dad is with him now. He had a lot of internal bleeding and he just got out of surgery about an hour ago. The doctors say he'll be fine after a couple of weeks, physically at least," she dropped her voice for the last part and said it more to herself than to me.

"I've got to see him. Will you take me to him?" I asked with a tear in my eye and an edge in my voice. I felt some relief when she said he would be okay, but I needed to see for myself. I needed to hold his hand and tell him that I loved him, even if he couldn't yet reply.

"No, no, sweetie," she said, "you can't go to him until you're better and until the doctors say that it's okay. You have a concussion and several broken ribs. They had to give you something to calm you down when you woke up back at the house. They said you were having an anxiety attack and they can't risk it happening again while you're recuperating. You'll have to wait here. As soon as you can see him though, I'll bring you to him. I expect he'll want to see you. We've called your parents, too. As you know they were in London on business but they'll be back by tomorrow night."

A silence fell after these words that was as comfortable as one could expect in the situation. Thoughts were still running through my mind quickly, and Carol looked tired and I wanted her to be able to sleep, but I needed to get one more piece of information before I fell asleep again myself. "And the monster?" I asked, not bothering to attempt and hide the contempt in my voice.

"The police came and took him away. And good riddance! I hope they lock him up forever for what he did," she said tearing up and raising her voice slightly. "Don't worry about that now, honey," she continued, her voice returning to its motherly tone, "try and go back to sleep, knowing Kurt and you couldn't be on a safer place, and that I'll be here with you now and you'll be seeing him soon." And it was as if her words were a spell that made my eyes and head droop and I fell back into a deep sleep.

The next few days went by like this. Between Carol, Burt and my mom, there was nearly always someone in the room with me. Upon hearing that I would be fine, my father had decided that his work was to important to leave unattended, so he send my mom back without him. I found comfort in the frequent sleep that came with the pain medicine, for although Kurt was still in a stable condition, they forbade me to see him. I requested updates every time I woke up to whoever was in the room at the time, and pressed my nurses for details whenever they came to check on me.

After four long days, which in some days felt like one long day and in other ways felt like a whole year, they said that I could see him if I wanted to, since he had been taken out of the ICU earlier than morning, Burt had been with him nearly constantly, for he wanted to be there for his boy when he finally woke, but Carol requested that when I saw him for the first time she and Burt run home and take showers and grab something to eat, since neither had left the hospital since they had first arrived.

I insisted that I could walk, but they pushed me to his room in a wheelchair anyway. Getting out of my bed was refreshing but once I tried to move around I felt the sharp pains in my sides and back where the broken ribs were. I pushed myself into the room and felt a firm hand on my shoulder and a wet kiss on my forehead as the Hummels walked out.

Seeing him that first time was awful and wonderful in equal measure. He was asleep and his eyes were crushed together and he moved his head a little back and forth like he was trying to wake up but couldn't. Forgetting the pain, I stood up quickly and made my way across the room as fast as I could, and took the vacated the seat that Burt had obviously just left.

I sat down in it quickly, grabbed both of his hands and put kiss after kiss upon them. Between the kisses I whispered everything that I had hoped to have the opportunity to say. I told him that I loved him, that I wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, I told thanked him for being such a good boyfriend, I told him that I would try my hardest to make him happy forever, I cursed Karofsky and cried and told him how I couldn't image anyone wanting to hurt him. I told him I loved him over and over again, and cried until my voice died out completely and I fell asleep laying over him, wishing he would wake up so that he could hear some of my words.

Two more long days it went on like that. I only left his side when the nurse told me that I had to go back to my room, which was at night to sleep and for meals. After a week had passed I was feeling anxious. Although I was still sore, I was mostly mended and would be released from the hospital the next day. Well - I would be discharged - it was unlikely that I would actually leave the premises until Kurt left with me. With promises of returning first thing in the morning, Burt and Carol had returned to the house for a good night of sleep.

I tried to sleep, but found that I was restless and worried about Kurt - and scared that he would finally wake up and he would be alone and perhaps scared. Wanting to prevent him from any further hurt, I crawled out of bed and snuck to his room. I met a nurse sitting at the station just outside his room, but she saw the tears in my eyes and nodded slightly, looking pointedly the other way and silently allowed me to slip inside the room.

I resumed the position that I had vacated so often in the last 48 hours, taking his hand in mine and laying my head down on his chest. Still slightly on edge, I couldn't fall asleep but helped pass the time by singing under my breath and reminiscing about some of the wonderful times that I had shared with Kurt.

After an hour or two, I felt his hand squeeze mine, and heard my name fall off of his lips and my eyes immediately filled with tears - of joy, of relief, of sadness because of the obvious hurt in his eyes and most of all of happiness - because the first words whispered from his mouth other than my name were "I love you so much, please never leave my side."

Following that night together, reveling in each other's safety and the comfort that we found in one another, things got a little easier, day by day. I feel so lucky that we had made it through that night and had a stronger relationship because of it. I hated these nights and any remaining hurt that he still felt, but I was so thankful that he was still able to lay with me and I was still able to call him mine. I truly meant it when I told him that I would never leave his side and that I would be there for him until the day I died. I was lucky and I wanted to provide the love of my life with all of the care and respect that he deserved, to the best of my ability. He had some sad and painful moments in his life, but with any luck, I would be able to provide a considerable more happy ones than sad. And I'll try forevermore.

A/N: Last chapter - Burt's views - should be up next. Comments are appreciated if you feel so inclined.

Kelsey


	3. Burt

Burt

A/N: I know that I said that this was going to be the last chapter, but it didn't really feel finished. So just a quick thing after this to tie it up a bit. Probably be posted tomorrow. Thanks! :)

Five hundred miles away and a few hours before, Carol and I crawled into bed after a relaxing night together at home. "I can't stop thinking about the boys," Carol said to me quietly, "can you believe that it's been five years since they got together? They have been through so much but are so strong because of it and their relationship has such a strong foundation now." I looked deep into her eyes while she said this and smiled at her. Kurt and Blaine's five year anniversary came only a couple of months after our own five year anniversary.

If I didn't have Carol, I don't know how I would have survived. She treats Kurt so much like her own son that I sometimes completely forget that he is her stepson and that Kurt and Finn are stepbrothers. It's not that I don't miss my late wife; I remember her often and fondly. But I know that she would like that I have moved on and found someone to love and someone who will help me parent Kurt. Especially after the incident, having a woman's - a mother's - touch, was so extremely helpful and appreciated that I feel eternally grateful.

I was still feeling like a newlywed and I think that it was starting to freak out the boys a little bit. Since the majority of our savings had gone to Kurt's education instead of our honeymoon, we settled on putting away what little we had left with hopes of contributing to it monthly and then taking a family vacation over the summer. In the meantime though, nearly every weekend night when both of us didn't have to work, Carol would make some delicious dinner and then we would curl up together for a movie.

Holding hands, sneaking kisses and giggling - I felt like I was twenty five again and it was fantastic. I was so in love with this woman. She was so good to me, to Kurt and it was wonderful to have someone like Finn in the house who appreciated a good car and a good sports game. My family seemed complete again and this made me so, so happy.

And then there was Kurt, who also seemed happier than ever. At first I had been reluctant to send him to that school, but I knew that I had to let him get away. I would not stand for someone harassing my child anymore. And once he had moved and settled in, he brought Blaine home for the first time for Friday night dinner. I was even more reluctant about this relationship than I had been about sending him away, but the pure happiness and joy that I saw in both of those boy's eyes told me everything that I needed to know. I put on the tough dad face and made sure that Blaine knew that I was protective and would not stand for any nonsense, but under this front I was grateful that he had someone to be close to while he was at Dalton.

Blaine was spending a few days over Christmas break with us since his parents were out of the country on some work related trip, and I was happy to have him. He made a great addition to the family. I know that they hadn't been together very long, but I got good vibes about their relationship and found myself thinking about their future.

Kurt had said goodbye a few minutes ago and gone out to start the car and Blaine came down about fifteen minutes later saying that they would be back in a couple of hours. I smiled up at him, waived him goodbye and then pulled Carol in closer. "Let's make some popcorn," I told her after a few minutes, sitting up. "I've been eating really good lately, but between you and Kurt I need a little snack that isn't made out of lettuce." Carol swatted a pillow at my arm as I stood up, but didn't protest. She leaned up and gave me a quick kiss. "Just no extra salt or butter," she said, raising her eyebrows before putting on a smile and winking, "and hurry back."

I made my way into the kitchen and could hear the wind whipping outside. I thought that I heard a shout coming from outside as well, but I remembered that the tv was still on in the other room, so I pushed that thought out of my head. I grabbed a bag of microwave popcorn and turned around to the other counter and put it in. Whistling slightly, I looked around the room while waiting for it to finish. My eyes stopped at the set of keys that were sitting on the table - they were Kurt's. Why hadn't he come back for them if he left them in here accidentally? Now that I think of it, I hadn't heard the car leave the driveway yet.

The wind was real loud, so there was a chance that I just hadn't heard it and he had used the spare set for some reason, but I felt a weight drop in my stomach when I thought about the shout that I had thought that I heard a few minutes earlier. Grabbing my jacket and the set of keys, I ran out the door into the cold, ignoring Carol's confused questions. I just had to check. Once I saw that they had left and there was no problem, I could explain my silly worries to her.

I looked at the driveway - no tire tracks. It hadn't snowed that much in the last half hour. I quickened my pace and nearly ran to the garage when I saw that the door was open just a crack. Flying into the room, praying that I was still worrying about nothing, I heard whimpering and the sound of fist hitting flesh. My anger skyrocketed when I saw that stupid jock on top of Blaine, who looked like he had passed out. I ran toward them and pulled him off the unconscious boy and threw him across the room. He landed on his back and I heard his neck snap down and his head smack onto the hard floor. He didn't get up.

I looked down and saw Blaine, who was still unconscious, and realized that the whimpering I still heard wasn't coming from him. I spun around and saw my boy, shaking and covered in dirt and blood and I was so shocked I couldn't move my feet for a moment. I shook myself and walked over to him. Kneeling down, I took his hand and used my other to wipe some blood off of his face. "Kurt, son, it's me. Your dad. I'm here. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore," I whispered fervently, hoping to calm him down, but it seemed as though he couldn't realize I was there. I gasped aloud. Due to the darkness of the room, I hadn't noticed his state of near nakedness until now. The tears fell out of my eyes freely and I jumped when I heard my name coming from the door.

"Burt?" Carol questioned, "What's going on?"

"Quick," I shouted, "call 911. We need two ambulances and the police here, right now!"

I heard her let out a sob and run back towards the house, but I stayed with my boy and held his hand and tried to whisper comforting things. I felt the tears on my cheeks sting since they were so warm against my cold face. Kurt had gone completely quiet and it was more worrisome than the whimpering had been. "Kurt, I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you. I'm here now though. I love you so much. Just stay strong. Just stay strong," I said, leaning over him and resting my head on his chest, thankful to feel slow breaths. "I'm here, Kurt. I'll always be here for you," I whispered, barely loud enough to even hear myself.

"Are you okay, honey?" Carol asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You've been quiet the last few minutes and you look a little sad." I looked over at her and took her hand into mine. "Yeah, Carol, I'm fine. I was just thinking about the boys too. Remembering some things that I know I should push out of my head but sometimes get stuck in there. Do you know what I mean?" I asked her and she smiled softly and nodded knowingly. "Kurt and Blaine, and frankly all of us, dear, have had struggles that we've had to overcome. And those memories are going to take time to completely forget. But we're all happy now. You're happy, aren't you? I know I am. Remember what Blaine talked to us about the last time that they were both home? Our futures are all looking bright and happy. There's no reason to dwell on the past."

"How did I manage to marry someone who is so perfect?" I asked, leaning in for a kiss. "You always know what to tell me to make me feel better. And you're right. I'm happy." I leaned in for another kiss and then rested back into my pillows, thinking about how true that statement was. I had two beautiful sons, who were on their way to becoming successful men and a beautiful, caring wife - and they were happy - how could I not be? Sure, sometimes the past is hard to think about, but our futures look so bright, it's hard to not be optimistic.

Clicking off the light and pulling Carol in so that she rested on my chest, I closed my eyes and smiled. "Let's go visit Kurt next weekend. I miss him. Him and Blaine," I said quietly. Carol looked up at me and smiled slightly. "I'd love to go visit our son. I miss him too," she whispered. After a few minutes I felt her breaths slow down and I knew she had fallen asleep. I closed my eyes and said the prayer I said every night before falling into a peaceful sleep.

"God, thank you for Kurt, thank you for Carol. Thank you for Finn and thank you for Blaine. Please let my son know that he is loved and we all will always be there for him. Let him be strong, let me be strong. Bless him and our whole family. Amen."


	4. Kurt

**Kurt**

**A/N: This is my little wrap up chapter. I meant to get this up a couple of days ago but I kept changing my mind about how I wanted it to end. Did you see Chris Colfer win at the Golden Globes? I was working on this and watching in the background and I finally pushed through. Hope you enjoy it.**

**I forgot to put a disclaimer on the last chapter. I don't own currently and never have owned Glee. :)**

I woke up the next morning and was still laying on Blaine's chest. He had sat up so that he was resting his back against the headboard and must have pulled me up with him so that he could continue rubbing soft circles into my back. He was staring out of our bedroom window. His facial expression was almost not readable - his smile looked a bit sad, but his eyes looked almost hopeful. He hadn't realized that I had woken up.

I took a few minutes and enjoyed the peaceful feeling and comfort that I had while laying in his arms. I couldn't shake my curiosity about what he was thinking as he was gazing out the window, so I reached up and brushed my hand against his face to get his attention. "Hey," I whispered. He looked at me and the sadness in his smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by genuine joy.

"Good Morning, baby," he said quietly. He lifted my head up and planted a soft kiss on my lips. The deep unwavering gaze that he was giving me made me shiver and blush. "How did you sleep after we were both awake?" he asked even more quietly. Despite the nightmare, my mind immediately went to the intense looks that he gave me last night that had made me feel so loved. I blushed even deeper and smiled and replied "I slept fine. Thanks for being there for me last night."

"Of course, I'll always be there for you," he said smiling widely. "We don't have any plans today, right?"

"No," I said. "Why, what did you want to do?" I asked curiously.

"Can we just go grab some breakfast and then go for a walk in the park?" He said hopefully with a little catch in his voice. I looked at him curiously. On Sundays we normally slept in and then spent the day together as a couple. It helped us stay close even when we were both busy with work and class during the week. But between his absent staring when I had first woken up and the almost nervousness that I was detecting in his voice now, I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.

"Of course, that sounds perfect," I told him with a smile.

It was a couple hours before we were ready to leave - it had taken us a while to finally roll out of bed and then we decided to share a shower - so when we wandered around the corner from our apartment to our favorite little cafe for coffee and muffins it was more like brunch than breakfast. He was unusually quiet, but I was content just holding hands across the table and sharing occasional meaningful looks.

It was early afternoon when we found ourselves meandering through Central Park. Autumn was slowly changing to winter, but the light breeze that blew was almost unseasonably warm. We walked in silence for a while and I kept catching Blaine glance at me when he thought that I wasn't looking. I grabbed his hand and knocked my shoulder against his. "Are you alright," I asked him, "you seem pretty quiet today. Not that I mind. I love these days that we can spend happily together without any need for anything but one another."

He looked at me and promised that he was fine. "Better than fine actually," he explained, "being with you makes me so incredibly carefree and content and my only hope is that I make you as happy as you make me." We had reached our favorite tree in the park and he slid down the trunk onto the grass and spread his legs so that I could sit between them and lean back onto his chest. The number of hours that we spent in that very position would be impossible to count. Set on a slight hill and overlooking the lake, this spot gave us the perfect combination of beautiful scenery, seclusion and peacefulness that we came to desire while living in such a busy city.

Blaine was humming a sweet, playful melody in my ear and although I recognized it, I couldn't identify what it was. We must have both drifted asleep for a while in that peaceful, perfect atmosphere, and when I stirred awake the park seemed a little darker and more solitary than before.

"Kurt," he whispered, wanting my attention, but not wanting to wake me up if I was still asleep. I responded with a sleepy and noncommittal "mhmm?"

"There's something that I want to sing for you," he said quietly. Grabbing my attention with that request, I sat up and spun around so that I was facing him. "What, here?" I asked. He nodded in response and gave me a brief but meaningful kiss before sliding out from behind me and standing up in front of me.

He took a deep breath and gave me a smile before starting -

_You're a falling star, you're the get away car._

_You're the line in the sand when I go too far._

_You're the swimming pool, on an August day._

_And you're the perfect thing to say._

This is what he was humming earlier, I thought to myself and smiled.

_And you play it coy but it's kinda cute._

_Ah, when you smile at me you know exactly what you do._

_Baby don't pretend that you don't know it's true._

_'cause you can see it when I look at you._

He kept his eyes locked on me while he sang, and I could feel the emotion that he usually sang with resonating in his voice. But unlike normal, as he sang these beautiful words, I saw a bit of vulnerability show that he rarely let me see. He helped me up from where I was sitting on the grass and pulled me close while he sang the chorus -

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times_

_It's you, it's you, you make me sing._

_You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

With his hand in mine, the vulnerability that I saw when he first started melted away and was replaced with that beautiful confidence that he normally wore. He twirled me around as he continued to sing -

_You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,_

_And you light me up, when you ring my bell._

_You're a mystery, you're from outer space,_

_You're every minute of my everyday._

He pulled me into a tight embrace and wrapped his arms around me and sang the next part in almost a whisper -

_And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,_

_And I get to kiss you baby just because I can._

_Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,_

_And you know that's what our love can do._

He let go of me and took a step back and looked deep into my eyes before loudly singing the chorus again -

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times_

_It's you, it's you, you make me sing._

_You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little black box. I inhaled sharply and unconsciously took a step back.

_So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

He dropped onto one knee and thrust the box out in front of him and sung the chorus one last time more loudly and clearly than I had ever heard him sing before -

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times_

_It's you, it's you, you make me sing._

_You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

_You're every song, and I sing along._

_'Cause you're my everything._

He finished the song and we stood there unmoving for a moment and his confidence again was replaced with hesitance. Suddenly it clicked for me. He was nervous and vulnerable and had been all day because he hadn't just brought me into the park to sing me a song and tell me he loved me, which he had already done before, but to do something that he wasn't completely confident would have the result that he wanted.

After a moment of awkward silence where the different emotions that we were both feeling seemed to make the light autumn air dense, Blaine gave himself a visible shake and seemed to have decided that if he had gone this far that he needed to continue.

"Kurt, that song truly expresses how I feel. Even if you and I were the only things on this earth, I could be completely happy. You make me want to strive to be a better person, a better boyfriend, a better man - so that I can be someone you're proud of. My happiness is directly affected by yours. I don't want you to ever be scared or upset, but if you are, I always want to be there to comfort you. We've been together for five years now, and everyday I am falling more and more in love with you. I don't know how or why you've decided to love me, but I'm eternally grateful that you have. I couldn't imagine there being a person more caring and considerate and loving in the entire world and I would like nothing else than to spend the rest of my life loving you."

I impatiently wiped a tear away from my eyes and let out a breath that I didn't realizing I was holding in, and took a step closer to him.

"I talked to your Dad and Carol last time we were home." he continued, obviously rambling while waiting for me to give some sort of response. "He said that it was okay that I ask you, but he doesn't think that I'm going to ask until after we graduate. But we're in love. And I want to prove my commitment to always being there for you. And this stone," he said, finally opening the box that he had been holding in his hand and revealing a beautiful ring, "was from your Mom's engagement ring. Your dad gave it to me after I talked to him."

I looked down at the stunning ring and the small stone that I recognized from the ring used to be in my Mother's jewelry box, and the tears came faster, wet and hot on my face.

"So what I'm asking, Kurt, is if you'll make me the happiest man in the world, and marry me."

I couldn't answer for a moment, but it was only due to happiness and shock. I pulled him up from the ground and kissed him passionately and nodded my head up and down to show him an answer even though I still couldn't form the words. He laughed, relieved, and returned the kiss with visible joy and wiped away the stray tears from my cheeks. He slid the ring onto my finger and kissed the stone before looking back into my eyes and laughing again. "Say something, please babe," he said, smiling and wiping a tear out of his own eye.

"I just love you so much. There are no words."

**A/N: So that's that. :) The song is "Everything" by Michael Buble. It's one of my favorites. Thanks to everyone who read and to those who reviewed especially. I'm working a new fic that should be up in a week or two. Hope you'll check it out when it's up :) Thanks again.**


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